Nothing sparks the adrenaline quite like Ancestry’s shaky
leaf alerting me to a new find. A picture! And not just any picture – a picture
of my 3X great-grandmother, Nancy Elizabeth Frazier. I could not click fast
enough, my own fingers shaking like the Ancestry leaf.
 |
| Portrait posted on Ancestry |
Are you sure this is little Nancy Elizabeth (1811-1895)
with her parents John Frazier (ca 1770-1850) and Lucy Hardin Shiflett (ca 1778-after
1850 )? Eh, I don’t know. They had lots
of children. Where are they? Where is their portrait?
I sent a message to the gal who posted the photo and
asked how she came in possession of the portrait and how she knew these were
our Frazier ancestors. Her response surprised me. These are not her exact
words, but close: “Oh, it’s not them. It’s just some girl with the same name.”
Even though SHE KNOWS these are not her ancestors, she is
happy to let everyone think they are. She has even cropped out each person’s face
to attach to their individual record on Ancestry. There’s that man’s face on John
Frazier’s page, the woman’s face on Lucy’s page, and the little girl’s face on Nancy’s
page.
Fifteen people have saved that photo to their family
tree. Probably even more without public family trees have saved the photo to
their personal database tricked into thinking they know what their ancestors
looked like.
When I discover a mistake in a story I have posted on my
blog, I correct it. There will be a bold notice of the correction and a link to
a new and improved version of the story if I wrote one.
Honest mistakes are one thing. Perpetuating a lie on
purpose is deplorable. Fake news!
Amy Johnson Crow continues to challenge genealogy
bloggers and non-bloggers alike to think about our ancestors and share a story
or photo about them. The challenge is “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.”
Wendy
© 2019, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.
LOL! sometimes you really have to wonder!
ReplyDeleteWow, she must not take genealogy seriously if she does this somewhat randomly I'm calling it when she's not verifying facts and photo cropping things out. Take the time to do it accurately or don't take the time to do it at all.
ReplyDeletebetty
Unbelievable! What is she thinking????
ReplyDeleteThat is shocking - where is the genealogy ethics in such a tactic?
ReplyDeleteEven though I've posted photos of the clothing worn at the time of an ancestor, with a clear caption under it saying "NOT" that ancestor...the next thing I know someone has posted it on their tree and called it by that person's name. It drives me crazy!
ReplyDeleteThat is crazy. Just plain crazy
ReplyDeleteI'm like you, a little skeptical, or maybe wary is a better word, of images posted in public trees. I see purported images of my fourth great-grandparents and wonder if they are really them or not. It's sad when someone so purposefully misleads others, though.
ReplyDeleteI was all excited to find a photo of a great-uncle, but then realized that there were two Isaac Alonzo Ashlocks, both born in Missouri within a few years of each other but with completely different families. Sadly, the photo went with the other Isaac.
ReplyDelete